Grades/Level: Lower Elementary (K–2), Upper Elementary (3–5)
Subjects: Visual Arts
Time Required: Short Activity
30 minutes
Author: J. Paul Getty Museum Education Staff

Activity Overview

A personal history can be imagined and re-created by looking carefully at a portrait. Students carefully study a portrait and connect its visual components with contemporary understandings of people and their attributes.

Learning Objectives

Students should be able to:
• identify clues in a portrait, including pose, gesture, expression, and props and use these to develop an interpretation of the individual depicted.
• connect their understanding of pose, gesture, expression, and props to personality and societal traits.
• work within a group to bring together ideas and interpretation about a subject in a portrait in a written format.

Materials

• Interview With... worksheet

Activity Steps

1. Introduce students to the idea of "reading" a portrait and how their interpretation of the image depicted is shaped by the sitter's expression, gesture, and props. Discuss how our understanding of a portrait comes through careful looking and drawing conclusions based on our contemporary ideas.

2. Divide the class into small groups of 5 to 6 students. Give each group an Interview with... sheet and pencils. You may either pre-assign a portrait or let students choose one of their own.

3. Explain that by looking closely at gesture, pose, expression, and props, the interviewer can speculate about the answers the sitter would give to questions on the sheet.

4. Ask each group to come up with answers to the various questions.

5. Allow students approximately 10-15 minutes to complete the interview.

6. Ask a volunteer from each group to read their group's answers to the questions. Students could play-act the interview to enhance the experience.

7. After each group has presented its interview, students can discuss whether or not they understand the sitter better.